The week of my birth (January 20, 1995) the number one song was “On Bended Knee,” performed by the R&B group Boyz II Men. Boyz II Men was formed in the late 1980s at Philadelphia’s High School of the Creative and Performing Arts as the vocal quintet Unique Attraction (Billboard, para. 2). They were discovered in 1989 when they performed an a cappella version of New Edition’s “Can You Stand the Rain” for Michael Bivins of Bell Biv DeVoe backstage at a concert (Billboard, para. 2). The quartet has four members: bass Michael McCary, baritone Nathan Morris, and tenors Wanya Morris and Shawn Stockman. The group was called the fourth most successful musical group of the 1990s by Billboard Magazine, and are considered by the RIAA to be the most successful R&B group of all time (Billboard, para. 1). Their first number one single, “End of the Road,” was released in 1992 and topped the charts worldwide, setting a record for most consecutive weeks in the number one spot, holding the spot for thirteen weeks (Billboard, para. 3). The group then proceeded to break their own record with “I’ll Make Love to You” (which spent 14 weeks at number one) and “One Sweet Day” (number one for 16 weeks) and are fourth only behind Elvis Presley, The Beatles, and Mariah Carey in terms of total weeks with a song at the top of the Billboard charts (Billboard, para. 5). “On Bended Knee” reached the number one spot on the Billboard charts immediately after “I’ll Make Love to You,” making them only the third group in history to replace their own song in the number one spot on the list and the first group to do so since The Beatles (Song Facts, Artist Facts section, para. 4).
The song “On Bended Knee” is a perfect example of Boyz II Men’s musical style. As Billboard said in a write-up on the band, their four-part harmonies “blended so smoothly that most of the general public would be hard-pressed to name any of the group’s individual members” (Billboard, para. 1). They were known for their powerful R&B ballads, and were one of the first male vocal groups to experiment with the melismatic embellishments made popular by female solo artists like Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey. The song was written by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, who were the producers on the group’s second album, II (Song Facts, para. 1). As songwriters, they have written 41 hits in the US, including several of Janet Jackson’s most popular songs and the track “4 Seasons of Loneliness” by Boyz II Men (Savage, 2005, para. 31). When asked about “On Bended Knee,” Jimmy Jam said, “Our thought was that they sing what we’d like to call ‘begging’ songs really, really well. And when they played us their album and said, ‘We want you guys to add something to this,’ we didn’t sense that there were any begging songs on there” (Song Facts, para. 1).
The lyrics of “On Bended Knee” are fairly self-explanatory. In it, the singer speaks to his girlfriend, who has left, begging her “down on bended knee” to come back to him, and promising to “never walk again” until she does. In the course of the song, the man apologizes for all of his wrongdoings and takes responsibility for the issues in their relationship (“I’m gonna swallow my pride/ say I’m sorry/ stop pointing fingers the blame is on me”) but asserts that he can’t live without her, saying “every moment without you/ it seems like eternity” and asking to go “back to the days our love was strong.” It is clear from the lyrics that the male singer is also ready to take their relationship to the next, more permanent level, saying “I want a new life/ and I want it with you” and at the end upping the ante by adding “gonna make you my wife/ raise a family.” The music of the song complements the lyrics. The two tenors in the group share the singing of verses, with the entire ensemble singing in harmony on the choruses and bridge and a spoken interlude prior to the final repetition of the chorus. The chords are mostly in a major key, conveying hope for the future rather than sadness over a lost love, showing a desire on the part of the male singers for reconciliation. Toward the end of the song, for the last two repetitions of the chorus, the song modulates to a brighter key, building the emotional tension of the music and driving the musical conclusion. In the video, the girlfriends who have left the band members return to their boyfriends during and after this modulation, showing that the women have accepted this heartfelt apology and adding to the ultimate emotion of hope for the future that the song conveys.
The song that was number one on my tenth birthday (January 20, 2005) was the song “Let me Love You” by Mario. The track is off of Mario’s second album, Turning Point, which was released in 2004 (DJ Booth, 2007, para 1). Born Mario Dewar Barrett, Mario wanted to be a singer from the time he was a child and joined a musical group while he was a student at Milford Mill Academy. (Billboard, para. 1) He was discovered when he was eleven by music producer Troy Patterson when he heard Mario perform at a talent show at Coppin State College (DJ Booth, 2007, para. 13). Coincidentally, the song he sang at that talent show was the Boyz II Men hit “I’ll Make Love to You,” and Boyz II Men was one of Mario’s primary influences (DJ Booth, 2007, para. 17). Mario’s first Billboard hit was a cover of Biz Markie’s hit “Just a Friend,” which was released in 2002; “Let me Love You” was the artist’s second Billboard hit (Billboard, para. 1). The song “Let me Love You” was written by Ne-Yo, a very successful performer and songwriter in his own right; “Let me Love You” was Ne-Yo’s breakout hit, and he has since written songs for famous vocalists like Beyonce and Rihanna, as well as releasing six studio albums of his own (Kellman, para. 4).
“Let me Love You” is an R&B ballad that, according to the sheet music, centers on the chords C minor, G minor, and F minor. In addition to Mario’s vocals, it features back-up vocals in both unison and two-part harmony from Ne-Yo. The lyrics tell the story of a woman who is beautiful and a good person but is dating someone who doesn’t deserve her and cheats on her (“I know you smelled the perfume, the make-up on his shirt”) and questions why she stays with a man who doesn’t deserve her love. In the bridge, Mario tells her that if he was her man she’d “never worry ‘bout what I do” and that he’d “be coming home back to you/ every night, doin’ you right,” calling her “the type of woman [who] deserves good things.” The chorus asserts that she should let him love her, that he will give her “everything you want and need/ baby good love and protection” and that he’ll “show you the way love’s supposed to be.” Musically, the underlying chords are in various minor keys, with forays into altered and diminished harmonies at the end of sections to add to the musical tension. The vocal line is in the tenor range and is largely solo, with the exception of call-and-response style vocals and some harmony on the choruses.
There are many similarities musically between “On Bended Knee” and “Let me Love You,” which makes sense given the fact that Mario was greatly inspired by Boyz II Men. Both are medium-tempo ballads in the R&B style and feature a single vocalist on the verses with other voices on the bridge and chorus, either in harmony or a call and response style. There are also many differences. The instrumental part behind the vocalists on “On Bended Knee” is simpler and more acoustic, with the piano being the most audible and the bass and drums softer in the mix. The background track for “Let me Love You” is much more electronic and has a darker tone overall. This is in part because of changes in the R&B genre in the decade between the songs, but also gives the two songs a different emotional content, giving “Let me Love You” more of a sense of yearning than “On Bended Knee,” which feels more optimistic about the future of the singer’s relationship.
The most interesting contrast between the two songs is in the lyrics. Both songs are addressed to a woman who’s the object of the singer’s affection, and both songs are essentially expressing love and asking to be loved back; the major difference is in the stage of the relationship. The singer in “Let me Love You” is watching a girl who’s dating another man that’s bad for her and asking her to give him a chance instead because he can treat her better. In “On Bended Knee,” the singer is already in a relationship, though one that’s on shaky ground because of mistakes he’s made. He’s asking the girl to give him a second chance to show how much he really loves her. Because of that, the lyrics of “On Bended Knee” are mostly using the “I” voice, talking about how much the singer is suffering without his girl and how much he wants to get back together with her, while the lyrics of “Let me Love You” are more focused on the “you” voice, talking about how great of a woman she is and how she deserves more.
Both “On Bended Knee” and “Let me Love You” could be called “begging songs,” to use Jimmy Jam’s terminology, but the singers are begging for different things. The Boyz II Men song is begging his girlfriend to forgive him and take him back; the Mario song is begging a girl he admires to give him a shot. The music of the two songs expresses this difference, and also shows how the R&B ballad changed from 1995 to 2005. The Boyz II Men in Mario’s music is clear, listening to the two songs side by side, but the more recent artist put his own twist on the genre, letting him also top the Billboard charts.
References
Boyz II Men. (n.d.). Billboard. Retrieved from http://www.billboard.com/artist/297041/boyz+ii+men/biography.
Charts: Greatest of All Time (n.d.). Billboard. Retrieved from http://www.billboard.com/charts#/../../charts-decade-end/hot-100-songs?year=2009.
Kellman, A. (n.d.) Ne-Yo Biography. All Music. Retrieved from http://www.allmusic.com/artist/ne-yo-mn0000846634.
Mario. (n.d.). Billboard. Retrieved from http://www.billboard.com/artist/309462/mario.
Mario Interview. (2007, July). DJ Booth. Retrieved from http://djbooth.net/interviews/entry/mario-interview-053007.
On Bended Knee. (n.d.). Song Facts. Retrieved from http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=24858.
Savage, Mark. (2005, May). The Hitmakers: Jam and Lewis. BBC News. Retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4576025.stm.
Boyz II Men, “On Bended Knee”
Written by: Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis
Lyrics:
Darlin' I can't explainWhere did we lose our wayGirl it's drivin' me insaneAnd I know I just need one more chanceTo prove my love to youIf you come back to meI'll guaranteeThat I'll never let you goCan we go back to the days our love was strongCan you tell me how a perfect love goes wrongCan somebody tell me how to get things backThe way they used to beOh God give me a reasonI'm down on bended kneeI'll never walk again until you come back to meI'm down on bended kneeSo many nights I dreamtHolding my pillow tightI know that I don't need to be aloneWhen I open up my eyesTo face realityEvery moment without youIt seems like eternityI'm begging you, begging you come back to meCan we go back to the days our love was strongCan you tell me how a perfect love goes wrongCan somebody tell me how to get things backThe way they used to beOh God give me a reasonI'm down on bended kneeI'll never walk again until you come back to meI'm down on bended kneeI'm gonna swallow my prideSay I'm sorryStop pointing fingers the blame is on meI want a new lifeAnd I want it with youIf you feel the sameDon't ever let it goYou gotta believe in the spirit of loveIt'll heal all thingsIt won't hurt any moreNo I don't believe our love's terminalI'm down on my knees begging you pleaseCome homeCan we go back to the days our love was strongCan you tell me how a perfect love goes wrongCan somebody tell me how to get things backThe way they used to beOh God give me a reasonI'm down on bended kneeI'll never walk again until you come back to meI'm down on bended kneeWanna build a new lifeJust you and meGonna make you my wifeRaise a family
Mario, “Let me Love You”
Written by: Ne-Yo
Lyrics:
Baby I just don't get itDo you enjoy being hurt?I know you smelled the perfume, the make-up on his shirtYou don't believe his storiesYou know that they're all liesBad as you are, you stick around and I just don't know whyIf I was ya man (baby you)Never worry bout (what I do)I'd be coming home (back to you)Every night, doin' you rightYou're the type of woman (deserves good thangs)Fistful of diamonds (hand full of rings)Baby you're a star (I just want to show you, you are)You should let me love youLet me be the one to give you everything you want and needBaby good love and protectionMake me your selectionShow you the way love's supposed to beBaby you should let me love you, love you, love youListenYour true beauty's description looks so good that it hurtsYou're a dime plus ninety-nine and it's a shameDon't even know what you're worthEverywhere you go they stop and stareCause you're bad and it showsFrom your head to your toes, Out of control, baby you knowIf I was ya man (baby you)Never worry bout (what I do)I'd be coming home (back to you)Every night doin' you rightYou're the type of woman (deserves good thangs)Fistful of diamonds (hand full of rings)Baby you're a star (I just want to show you, you are)You should let me love youLet me be the one to give you everything you want and needOoh Baby good love and protectionMake me your selectionShow you the way love's supposed to beBaby you should let meYou deserve better girl (you know you deserve better)We should be together girl (baby)With me and you it's whatever girl, hey!So can we make this thing ours?You should let me love youLet me be the one to give you everything you want and needBaby good love and protectionMake me your selectionShow you the way love's supposed to beBaby you should let me love youLet me be the one to give you everything you want and needThat good love and protectionMake me your selectionShow you the way love's supposed to beYou should let me love youLet me be the one to give you everything you want and needGood love and protection(protection)Make me your selection(selection)Show you the way love's supposed to be yeahLet me love you that's all you need baby
